Real line-up Nesta deal

Real Madrid are believed to be in talks with Lazio with a view to forging ahead with the signing of central defender Alessandro Nesta.

Madrid chairman Florentino Perez is due to meet with officials from the Rome-based club later this week to discuss a possible swoop for Nesta, who has been on Real's agenda for the past few years.

Lazio have been obliged to find outlets for several of their star players to ease the current financial trouble the club is experiencing.

Should the Italians fail to qualify for the second phase of the Champions League then they would need to budget for a huge loss of revenue.

Also earmarked for an exit is striker Hernan Crespo, it seems that Lazio chief Sergio Cragnotti has his heart set on bringing Barcelona ace Rivaldo to Serie A next term and one way to fund the operation would be by offloading Crespo.